Sphinx Cafe

This place closed a year or two ago.

I was recently here for one of their Friday night bellydancing hafla events and was quite unimpressed. My best friend was invited there to do her first solo ever. It was definitely a thrown together kinda thing. The «dance floor» was in the middle of the place with seated tables all around and the buffet was placed right at the dance floor. It was pretty had to see from where we were sitting near the floor.
So the cover for that night was $ 20 which was to include a buffet and the show. The food was not that great… wasn’t terrible but not impressive at all. All the meat was super dry, the falafels weren’t cooked all the way through, the hummus was bland and even the pitas didn’t taste right. We were also told «we don’t have tap water.» After paying $ 20 go get in they wanted us to pay for a bottle of water. I won’t go on my tree hugging rant about bottles of water, but that seemed ridiculous. They also charged $ 2 for pop and ice tea with no refills. I’m sorry but if I’m paying $ 20, I would think I should get pop let alone some water!

I used to be one of the weekend house bellydancers (2001) here. That said, I was never all that impressed with the food. Course, I didn’t PAY for it, but still…
Can’t believe it’s taken me so long to review this place, I was here every weekend for a period of many months. I loved hanging out with the owner after I’d dance my set, sipping Arak and watching the crowd.
They keep rearranging the interior, but not really fully following thru on it. They have these weird «bellydance haflas» with amateur dancers in a wide variety of costumes from nice to «what is she thinking?» I’m guessing the dancers are not paid, which brings the quality wayyy down.
It used to get a little rough — fights in parking lot, etc. on weekend nights, and it’s kind of a long way to drive anyway. The owners though, are sweet as can be — have to give them a star.

This place is odd. Used to go here alot for lunch when I worked in the area, and while there is better food of a similar type in the area (Pita Inn) something kept us coming back to Sphinx.
From the moment you enter the door you feel like you are not in the US. Very European style unobtrusive service and a unique «thrown together» ambiance for the place.
After a recent remodel, there is a random club/​dancing area off to the side with comfortable cushions to sit on. The «restaurant» is a smaller area as you first come in.
Sphinx is def. worth a visit. It’s kinda a dive, but don’t be put off and just come to relax and take in the atmosphere — whatever it is ;)

We were unimpressed. We stopped in for dinner about 6 wks ago and the food was just not what we expected. Though I’ve never had ‘Egyptian’ food, I’ve had a variety of Middle Eastern cuisines… this was bland and very much uneventful as far as that type of dining was concerned.
The atmosphere was blah, they were setting up for a club scene of some kind later, a bunch of kids came in to smoke a hookah, there was a birthday party going on and other than that there was my husband and I and about 3 people at the bar smoking like chimneys and speaking another language.
Other than that, it was kind of drafty, we sat near the windows and could feel the cold coming through… it took me a second to think back to when I was in high school, I think this place was originally a deli and they didn’t do much to change the heating system when Sphinx came in.
Generally, I guess it was okay, but I think my standards are a little higher for a place that boasts Mediterranean Cuisine.

I’ve only been there on nights they hold haflas, but I’ve always had a positive experience. On those nights, $ 10 cover gets you all you can eat buffet of yummy Egyptian food and admission to watch the bellydance performances. They also have hookah for a reasonable price.